Session 6

Fact Sheet: all the bodies hit the floor

Date: 31-08-22

Date in-universe: an unspecified Friday

Players present: Ecchima, Marty, Meinhart, Vinnie. Tuur had to leave after the first 45 min. Dins was our DM.

Major developments:

Notes

Early on Friday morning, Fyllion stares at the swoops and swirls of his name on the bloodied letter. With an exhausted sigh, he decides to hide the letter & keep it all a secret from the rest of the crew.

When Storm wakes up to find Ezra playing with their sand storm, they both notice Enza isn't in the room anymore. While heading to breakfast, we see her coming out of Skourja's office: she was looking for a job, not because she urgently wants to leave us, but just to know her options.

Eldrin is eager to pick up their sword and heads to Manzur on their own. When they step into the blacksmithy, they're accosted by a furious Manzur: the sword is a foul item that Eldrin never should have brought into this workshop! It's a sentient sword that Manzur couldn't repair even if he wanted. Eldrin confirms they know about this, they've heard the voice calling out to him. Manzur finds this a horrible omen, but Eldrin mentions the sword only wants to help. Manzur spits that reforging alone isn't enough, you need to at least know the sword's name & it's master's name.

Manzur wants Eldrin to leave, accepting the 10 gold just to get them to go. Manzur's chipper energy has turned frazzled, like just being around the sword drained him somehow. When Eldrin leaves the shop, they observe that the sword looks repaired, but the blade appears bitten by insects and gives off an oppressive aura.

Storm picks up the augmented armour.

Wandering through town, we happen across Sabor, who makes meaningful eye contact with Eldrin & gives them a kindly nod.

While Storm and Eldrin grump that the magical store isn't open yet, Hali and Ezra decide to act on Fyllion's uncharacteristic quiet. Fyllion mentions the message he found written on his body in his own handwriting & we discuss this for a moment:

no one knows who Skara is, though we're aware that Fyllion is a fey prince
Hali can't find anything relevant in her Compendium
Fyllion speculates he might have been aware he'd forget his memories

Inspired by this last speculation, we reveal we didn't notice anything during our baths. We decide to check each other's back for tattoos, Ezra sheltering us with their coat and the magic sand!

.

By 8 a.m. we head to Akram, to witness Saatia's magical interrogation at the hands of the town wizard Mi’Kal, and we notice there's a lot of commotion among the guards. One shutter on the top floor of the HQ is open.

The guard at the door ushers us immediately towards Akram. A young elvish man is tending to an unconscious Basri and 2 unconscious guards. There's a residue of gas or mist in the room.

Akram appears startled to see us alive:

during the attack, all 5 guards were knocked out & then paralysed
Saatia was killed
before she died, Saatia had told Akram that Simeon Ibn Seif was travelling with us before she even met us.

Akram is quite suspicious of us, but

Fyllion mentions his shapeshifting abilities & with Ezra and Storm's back-up, we're able to mostly convince him we'd deceived Saatia
Hali offers her help the the young elf, Mi'Kal the town wizard to treat the guards and Basri. They seem okay & Mi'Kal mentions they were probably paralysed by an injection of black snake venom. That poison is somewhat of a calling card for the Sable Serpent...

Akram trusts us a little less, but remains dependent on our help.

Eldrin wants to know if anyone is helping Saatia? Can she be healed, or revived? The coroner hasn't arrived yet, so officially she's not pronounced dead yet, but it doesn't look good... and no one in Koh'Shar is powerful enough for resurrection magic, not even Sabor, the esteemed religious leader... Moving into her cell to view Saatia's body, we notice

she was sitting close to the bars & doesn't appear to have fought or struggled
she only has one wound: a slash on the artery of her neck, with a lot of blood, indicating that she died very quickly
both her earrings are missing

Ezra mentions we gathered from travelling with Saatia, that she was expecting to be killed as soon as we turned her in, either by the guard for her crimes or by her colleagues as a means to keep their secrets...

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Despite the tense situation, we decide to split the party!

Eldrin wants to implore Sabor to help & Storm tags along
Hali and Ezra decide to check up on Frei for us (since Akram apparently thought Saatia wouldn't have been the only target in the night)
Fyllion picks up a guard and goes back to the inn to get some more rest

.

Winding his way back to the Moonflower, Fyllion notices something purple fluttering between some buildings, like a scarf maybe...? He just keeps trudging on, blinking against the exhaustion he's feeling.

On the stairs towards his room, Fyllion feels a sting in the neck. As an hour-long paralysis takes over his body, he's vaguely aware of a brunette woman with a purple scarf... As she deposits him on a random bench in some corridor, the woman's voice shifts towards a male register:

Why do you keep meddling? I've told you before that my targets have it coming, no matter if I go after them for coin or for fun. That means Saatia's blood is on your hands, you know. Usually I enjoy taking my time with a filet mignon like you but right now I have business to attend to. So just sit here, paralysed and out of the way. (editor's note: hat tip to Vinnie who put the Fyllion-filet mignon pun on discord, to Dins and Marty whose riffs on it seared into my brain & to Dins for allowing me the artistic license to add it here)

Fyllion notices a fading glow around a tattoo on Simeon's arm: it's a masquerade tattoo allowing shape shifting. Soon Fyllion is alone in the corridor, dumped on the bench. The tiny luggage settles on his lap & together they prepare to wait out the effects of the injection (editor's note: this is when Tuur had to leave us).

.

Hali and Ezra head to Frei's mom's place, a small but neat house. The inhabitants appear at breakfast. When they knock, Yorla a blonde half-elvish woman opens the door. When they introduce themselves & ask after Frei, she calls LUNAFREIA over!

Frei looks a lot better, in clean clothes, bathed and rested. Her mom fusses at her that she shouldn't rush off with these armoured friends, she only just got back, why is she already galivanting around with all sorts of mysteries and adventures?! But Frei notices we're nervous, like a teenager going on a first date, and goes to pick up her armour.

Trying to make small talk with Yorla while waiting & with Frei while walking,

Hali invites Yorla & Frei to the Moonflower to hear a performance
we learn Yorla is an educator & doesn't have the budget for the moonflower
we hear Frei explains her full name was an invitation for Lunaire to give her the same powers her grandmother (a full tiefling) had

Frei is embarrassed by all this small talk, so Ezra & Hali give her a status update:

Saatia is dead (Frei doesn't really care, since the reward and the prestige have already been awarded)
Simeon is presumably in town (Frei is worried, since she caught him)
the coroner appears missing

.

At the same time, Eldrin & Storm enter the wealthy temple dedicated to Soliman. Amid all the gold and white marble, an older man appears to be waiting. He's clearly a man of true faith: fatherly, friendly, welcoming... it's the man who'd been watching & nodding at Eldrin both yesterday and this morning. From his position, it's clear this is Shepherd of the Faithful Sabor, the religious leader of Koh'Shar.

With a polite bow, Eldrin implores his excellence Sabor to intervene on Saatia's behalf, but alas... Sabor is more Soliman's spokesperson and a confidant for the populous than a true vessel of divine power:

healing someone who's been dead for an hour is not something he can help with
resurrecting someone is far beyond his purvey
for Saatia's afterlife he can only offer a comforting prayer and the reassurance that the gods are just and even kind to all us mortals...

Sabor mentions he feels the hand of more than one god on Eldrin's shoulders, but Eldrin immediately rejoins they only believe in one true god, Soliman the god of life and light and hope, since Soliman had endowed them with powers, even though they're not an actual priest. Eldrin casts minor illusion to create Soliman’s halo around Storm as proof.

Sabor smiles he doesn't need Eldrin to prove their powers. He's merely surprised Eldrin believes in only one god, because Sabor can clearly feel more influences on them. Eldrin gets a little angry about Sabor's insistence there's something more reaching out to Eldrin. Storm tries to encourage Eldrin to hear Sabor out (by mentioning Frei had called Eluviel a follower of Lunaire), but Eldrin refuses Sabor's offer to reveal these revelations.

Sabor looks up at the name Eluviel and mentions the full name/title Eluviel Harsada. He doesn't know much beyond the name, since "starlight" is the essence of Lunaire. He nods towards the phrase carved over the door "Elu ve l'ahar sada", reminding us of the phrase Eluviel used to end his letter to Ghorann, though the first word is different. Probably Soliman's blessing doesn't refer to starlight...

In the context of the beautiful carving & the beautiful temple in general, Sabor confirms that he believes Soliman was behind the circle event 2 years ago.

Soliman blessed Koh'Shar with all that water, to bring new prosperity
Soliman sent the people who travelled with the island and the water, in his opinion they're envoys were sent by Soliman
that's why Koh'Shar built a statue of Laithe. She was Soliman’s priestess travelling with the envoys. She had powers of healing and communication and consacrated the market with the blessing that everyone is able to understand everyone else

.

We all meet up again & Frei leads us through the weaving district to the coroner’s base of operations. Towering over the crowd, Storm notices a tall figure exiting a refined store selling delicate lace. Upon noticing Storm, the polecat spits out the water he's drinking. It's Mondregen, the slightly underhanded bully from the Reinsinger Finnilash (a clan of polecats, usually related by blood & following the same lifestyle - in this case dedication to ballet and associated arts). Mondregen is travelling for his own Züchtungsreise, just like Storm.

Through some barbed remarks and oblique insults, we learn:

6 months ago, Mondregen and Storm ran into each other somewhere in Breheima
- at that time, Storm was planning to leave Breheima, so why are they running into each other in Koh'Shar??
- at that time, Storm was travelling with Eldrin, Ezra, Fyllion and Hali, as well as a little gnome, some guy with feathers and a mask and a priestess-looking girl
- at that time, Storm showed him some idea for a new choreography. It was based around a series of technically advanced poses, very much Storm's style (as opposed to Mondregen's style, who relies more on drama)
4 months ago, Mondregen had some embarrassing incident, which he expects Storm to be aware of. We gather Mondregen was planning to travel to Kharkhorin, but then Rosaria's king died & the prince started his war preparations

Frei is taking Eldrin's measure: how are they coping with the news about Saatia?

.

We arrive at the coroner’s house, a very beautiful building on a little hill, not crowded with previous buildings like the rest of town. The shutters are still closed & no one is about. When we knock, there's no reaction.

Hali & Ezra notice there's sand on the shutters, an accumulation of at least 2 days. Storm pries open a shutter, so Eldrin can use mage hand to open the window!

Frei offers to watch the street, Eldrin agrees that's a great idea, because we don't want Frei's mom to get mad Frei's breaking and entering
Hali climbs inside with a boost from Storm
Storm wriggles through himself

Hali notices the smell inside isn't great, but in the living area where we are it's just a hint of putrifaction, no unexpected in rooms associated to a coroner's workplace. There’re no signs of violence, so we open the front door for the others.

When Ezra complains about the smell, the magic sand tries to make a bandana, but that only means Ezra coughs sand! Eldrin notices

there are letters on the floor behind the door, probably also 2 days' worth
there's shoes and coats hanging in the hallway, it doesn't look like anyone got dressed before leaving, so are they still inside?

We head toward the work area. One door is closed & when we open it, the smell of Jahadi's rotting body hits us. It's an older, stately looking man, with the Y incision for the autopsy... Gagging, Ezra runs back outside with Frei. Next to the autopsy table, we find an older man sprawled on the floor. Hali checks him over:

he's not breathing & he's fully cold, he appears thoroughly dead
there are no visible wounds or other traces for the cause of death, except for some drool running from his lips as we move him

Clearly, this is another murder! The local guards are overwhelmed and the local priests can barely manage healing, never mind resurrect the dead... Storm also checks the body & finds a little more info:

the coroner has a note from Akram in his pocket. It describes how Jahadi was found: dead at his desk, no visible wounds
the coroner has no needle marks in the neck
there's more water running out of his mouth & his throat is filled with water

As soon as Storm leans closer to check out that water in mouth and throat, something spits out at him & forms a bubble around Storm's head! Storm barely manages to keep it from his mouth. It's a mini water elemental still crawling all over Storm. It's composed of water, but it also contains blood & bodily fluids in the water, causing Storm to shriek in revolted panic!

Eldrin calls for Ezra & attempts to hit the creature with their newly reforged longsword. Through careful aim, they hit the water & not Storm. Thanks to the favour of the gods, Eldrin can add some damage, but water is tricky to fight. Eldrin throws a puzzled look at Hali
Ezra storms back into the room & attacks with both of their shortswords. With the first hit, the magical sand attempts to push the water away. The only effect is that the water turns muddy... The swords only do half damage & Ezra looks queasy because of the smell
Hali tries to talk to the elemental in Aquan (for 6 seconds):
Wi'si tussz xi evvedlif zua! at e vulip ug huuf geovj, qmieti tvuq gohjvoph uas gsoipf (editor's note: you can find the translations from Aquan into common below, at the end of the session notes)
Alas, due to a NATURAL ONE, the elemental doesn't respond. Hali next prepares to cast destroy water, but because this is a creature it probably won't work very well. Hali plans to cast as soon as the elemental's turn ends
Storm can't get it off due to a NATURAL ONE. Storm manages to inflict full acid damage with primal savagery, but it still clings to him, like a grimy toddler with all the tenacity of a terrier
Frei also runs in & makes 3 unarmed strikes (w flurry of blows): she hits once but trying to avoid Storm's face, the second hit misses. Thanks to her qi point, the 3rd one hits & the damage is a NATURAL FOUR. Alas, she doesn't manage to push it off
the elemental has recharged its attack, and tries to choke Storm again, but Storm manages to fend it off

Hali's prepared spell goes off: the elemental is shrinking like it's boiling or evaporating a little! Hali adds

I etlif zua podimz

From its reactions, she picks up that the elemental is still quite young and very angry. It’s not a very intelligent example of its species, so it merely babbles

Qsuvidv, qsuvidv, i natv qsuvidv

Hali isn't sure what to make of that...

Eldrin begs Storm to hold still & Storm squeezes his eyes shut. Eldrin casts eldritch blast on the creature: it's a weird black blast, like the inverse of a flame. It looks like a glitch in the fabric of reality! After this hit, the creature is having a hard time to stick together, it's clearly wounded
Ezra also addresses it with Aquan:
Xjev ot ov zua'si vszoph vu qsuvidv?
The baby elemental replies frantically:
Vji netvis, vji netvis, vjiz xomm lomm, i natv qsuvid
Hali grins at Ezra, in praise of their Aquan accent (which Ezra learnt dring their life on the seas). Hali offers the elemental her waterskin to transport it back to its master. The elemental refuses:
Fup'v hu vu netvis, fup'v jasv jon
Hali picks up it's very young and not properly socialised, explaining its paniced anger. Hali explains to us it's scared & we should stop attacking it. That works & it hides in the waterskin!

We notice there's also water in Jahadi's lungs. Both men were killed by drowning, probably by this creature! Did Jahadi attack someone, who had a water elemental as body guard? Or was Jahadi its master & was it merely hiding the best it could?

Hali continues to try and reassure the baby elemental:

Ximm fupi vu muul egvis zuas netvis

Frei looks very confused by Eldrin: what the fuck was that creepy fireball thing? We're also a little confused by this eldritch blast - when did Eldrin start doing that??

Frei mentions she's ill at ease by the water elemental. She feels it points to mastery of water and control of a lot of magic...

is it Nasser king of the oasis, the richest council member? She's never heard anything like that... but the very idea stresses her out, since Nasser hates her & controls all water here in the middle of the desert!
a mage who can control a water elemental would probably have other water-talents (kind of like Hali, who can create water). That would be serious competition for Nasser, or at least would have been before the circle event that brought so much extra water... nowadays such a competitor would have to build their own position, somewhere out in the Sand Sea
it's probably not Mi'Kal, because before Frei's exile he was just the mage apprentice & not a particularly talented one at that
there is a rumour that Na'Dir of the Sable Serpent is a very powerful magic user
Storm reminds her Marduk knew Ghorann & had contacts enough to procure the hell hounds from somewhere else. Perhaps someone bought that elemental from some irresponsible breeder, explaining its poor socialisation...? That might be a lead

We go warn Akram about the death of the coroner & the attacks by the water elemental. Akram remarks the creature didn't attack any of the guards transporting the body.

Akram gets us

letters of introduction, explaining we work with Akram (Storm takes the letter meant for Fyllion)
a letter of free movement for Frei (reinstating her & returning her guard's badge will take the council's approval)
Enza doesn't need any special documentation right now.

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We decide to visit Mi'Kal the elvish mage, who runs Koh'Shar's magic shop. He starts with "welcome to the store" but quickly sours to "oh it's you, am I needed again? I've already given succour without compensation!". Hali reminds she saved him some work & some antidotes, so Mi'Kal promises us great deals!

Are we perhaps interested in:

the pan’demonium: a sturdy pan which automatically heats up your meals & which you can use to bludgeon someone
the obsidian orb of advice: a ball you shake till it answers your questions like an 8-ball
the kaleidoscope of dreams: a beautiful filigree cylinder you can peer through. Fate may grant you true sight, it might improve your perception/investigation, or, if you roll below a 5, everything becomes psychedelic, like you took LSD

Ezra carefully looks around. It becomes clear this charmingly eccentric store is stocked with whacky inventions (like the above) or very basic, low-level magic items (see below)

a lamp with a sentient flame, probably imported
paired scrolls: what you write in one scroll, becomes visible on the other, no matter how far apart the scrolls are (incl. other planes of existence)
his only bag of holding he sold a few weeks ago to a traveller
a ring of tracking: if you're attuned to it, you always know where it is, even if you're not wearing it
a cape of billowing: it always drapes around you in the most dramatic way
a cup of sobriety: you can drink any alcoholic beverage from this & never get drunk
2 earrings of message: they allow you to send 5 messages a day to someone (visible or invisible) within 120 ft of the sender. Wearing one earring is sufficient (Dins, does that mean 5 messages each?)
several low-level potions: anti-venom, health, pemmican

Hali casts water into the pan'demonium & as soon as Mi'Kal clicks the handle, it starts boiling ferociously. Before we can even react, everything evaporates. It works, but it boils way too rapidly!

Hiding a smirk, Hali mentions we came to talk, not to shop. What can he tell us about water elementals?

Immediately, he sighs those are above his skill level. His master Samson could have done it. Samson was a very accomplished mage and a very annoying mentor. And now all mages were drafted for Rosaria's war with Kharkhorin on pain of execution, since the Rosarian prince has cosied up with the Breheiman political powers! Although, just between us, Mi'Kal figures Samson was ready to fight anyway.

Storm juggles the orb of advice & asks if there are other magic users in town who are not in this room. The answer is YES! Meanwhile, Ezra purchases the earrings of message. Mi'Kal asks for 100 gold, but with Storm & Hali's help Ezra haggles it down to 50 gold (from our bank's money). Idly, Ezra wonders if casting a message to Ratthew the telepathic rat would work: we're in the marketsquare (so probably within range). Let's first check up on Fyllion, though.

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As we leave the shop, there's a very brief rumble underfoot - is it a mini earthquake?! For a moment, Mi’Kal looks surprised, but just goes about his business. People in the street are also a bit more confused. Since they're outside, they've noticed the same thing we now see...

The magic streams of water streaming uphill to water the city, have stopped!

.

Translations from Aquan to Common

When I googled the spelling of "Aquan", it suggested a translator on https://lingojam.com/English-AquarianTranslator. I'm not sure it's the right language, but adding this kind of flavour to the notes was a lot of fun!

Hali: We're sorry we attacked you! As a token of good faith, please stop fighting our friend
Hali: I asked you nicely!
the elemental: Protect, protect, I must protect
Ezra: What is it you're trying to protect?
the elemental: The master, the master, they will kill, I must protect!
the elemental: Don't go to master, don't hurt him
Hali: Well done to look after your master

Episode Line-up

Previously: Session 5 Arrival in Koh'Shar

Next up: Session 7 Well well well, what's in this well?